Apple CarPlay–to be focused on newer iPhones only

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Apple now to conquer the vehicle’s space as a computing environment

Apple has just launched its CarPlay in-vehicle operating environment and brought a large number of vehicle builders like Ferrari, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz on side. This will be intended to work with the iPhone 5 and its descendents only. Similarly Google is heading towards a so-called Projected Mode system that is to work with their Android platform.

There is an issue with CarPlay and similar operating environments in which we will head towards systems that can only work with one particular mobile platform such as iOS or Android. A vehicle could be shared amongst multiple drivers, whether it be a household car shared amongst everyone in the household who can drive, or an organisation’s vehicle that is shared amongst the organisation’s employees or volunteers.

Not all people will follow a particular mobile platform and this could cause the idea of an app-linked platform like Ford’s Sync to be considered more valid. Here, an interlink app ported to the different mobile platforms and written to work with the vehicle’s platform may be seen as an answer.

On the other hand, a “dual-platform” setup could be seen as an answer where a vehicle could run CarPlay or a competing platform like MirrorLink with the appropriate interface presented when the device is connected. It primarily depends on where the “heavy lifting” in a vehicle’s connected infotainment system is intended to be performed – whether in the dashboard or in the driver’s smartphone.